Chapter 20 - Five MinutesThe video call began at 4:00 p.m.
Elaine sat off-camera.
Jonah sat beside Sophia.
Margot appeared on the screen.
She wore a simple cream blouse.
No jewelry except her wedding ring.
For several seconds nobody spoke.
Margot smiled cautiously.
“Hello, Sophia.”
Sophia stared at her.
“Hi.”
Margot’s eyes filled immediately.
She blinked the tears away.
Sophia noticed.
“Are you crying?”
“A little.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m glad to see you.”
Sophia looked at Jonah.
He gave no instruction.
She turned back.
“You look different.”
Margot almost smiled.
“I’ve been told that.”
“Your hair is shorter.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I got tired of fighting with it.”
Sophia smiled faintly.
One minute passed.
Then Sophia asked the question everyone feared.
“Why did you push me?”
Margot stopped breathing.
Jonah’s muscles tightened.
Elaine remained silent.
Margot looked directly at Sophia.
“I was angry.”
“Why?”
“Because you said you were going to tell your father something I didn’t want him to know.”
“So you pushed me?”
“Yes.”
Sophia frowned.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
Margot’s mouth trembled.
“No.”
“Did you want me to get hurt?”
The room went still.
Margot answered carefully.
“I wanted to scare you and stop you from arguing with me.”
Jonah felt sick hearing it aloud.
Margot continued.
“I did not think about how badly you could be hurt. That was dangerous and wrong.”
Sophia looked down.
“Did you think I was bad?”
Margot closed her eyes briefly.
“No.”
“You said I was.”
“I said cruel things because I wanted you to obey.”
Sophia’s lower lip trembled.
Jonah nearly ended the call.
Then Sophia asked, “Do you still think Daddy ruins everything?”
Margot looked at Jonah.
For a second the old Margot appeared.
Pride.
Resistance.
Then it passed.
“No.”
Sophia narrowed her eyes.
“Nothing?”
Margot gave the smallest real smile.
“He still makes terrible financial spreadsheets.”
Jonah said, “Excuse me?”
Sophia laughed.
The tension broke for one second.
Then Margot became serious again.
“I was wrong to tell you your father would abandon you.”
Sophia looked surprised.
“I knew you said that.”
Margot’s eyes filled.
“I said it because I knew it would frighten you.”
Jonah looked away.
Even now, the admission hurt.
Sophia asked, “Do you miss me?”
Margot whispered, “Every day.”
Sophia’s expression changed.
“Does that mean I have to come see you?”
“No.”
Margot answered instantly.
Jonah looked at her.
“No,” she repeated. “Missing you is mine to handle.”
Elaine glanced at the clock.
Five minutes.
Sophia noticed.
“Time.”
Margot nodded.
“All right.”
Sophia hesitated.
Then said, “Bye, Grandma.”
“Goodbye, sweetheart.”
Jonah reached toward the laptop.
Sophia stopped him.
“Wait.”
Margot froze.
Sophia looked at her grandmother.
“I’m still mad.”
“You’re allowed.”
“I might stay mad.”
“You’re allowed.”
“And if I see you again, I don’t want you telling me what to do all the time.”
Margot almost laughed through tears.
“I will work on that.”
Sophia considered.
“Okay.”
Then she closed the laptop herself.
The screen went dark.
Jonah looked at her.
“How do you feel?”
“Weird.”
“Good weird or bad weird?”
“Both.”
“That sounds reasonable.”
She climbed into his lap.
“Did Grandma do good?”
Jonah thought carefully.
“She listened.”
“That’s good?”
“Yes.”
“Does that mean she’s fixed?”
“No.”
Sophia nodded.
“Elaine says people aren’t toys.”
Jonah smiled.
“Elaine is very wise.”
That evening Margot sat alone at home.
For the first time in months, she allowed herself to remember Sophia without immediately planning how to regain access.
She remembered the call.
Missing you is mine to handle.
The sentence felt like surrender.
Then slowly—
like freedom.
Because perhaps love did not require possession to survive.
Perhaps missing someone could remain painful without becoming a problem to solve.
Margot looked at Arthur’s photograph.
“You knew this, didn’t you?”
Arthur, of course, did not answer.
Margot smiled sadly.
“You should have told me louder.”
May you like
Then she remembered all the times he had tried.
And for once, she did not blame him for failing to force her to listen.
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